You guys. It's so hot. I have guests coming and I don't want to be baking vegetable gratins or stirring risotto or God forbid melting cheese onto anything. Help me think of hot weather vegetarian dishes that have plenty of protein and work for company, ok? Stuff that is served cold and ideally doesn't take much (or ideally any) heat to prepare. I've already thought of: gazpacho; deviled eggs; watermelon-feta salad; pitas with hummus and Israeli salad. Maybe that's my menu right there. But there must be more options. Tell me what you would make. Thanks!
posted to Ask MetaFilter by fingersandtoes at 5:51 PM on September 11, 2013 (28 comments)

We ran a query of all meetups in the US, and found there have been meet-ups in 44 distinct states. The missing states are both Dakotas, Idaho (a previous attempt), Mississippi (another attempt), West Virginia, and Wyoming. Map below!
posted to MetaTalk by mathowie at 4:55 PM on September 10, 2013 (91 comments)

What skill can learn right now in 10 minutes that will be useful for the rest of my life? Is a Quora thread that goes beyond the usual "life hacks" (though it has them, too) to include some neat skills [Quora requires registration, but links go to direct sites]. Learn to read Korean, eat a chicken wing properly, fold a t-shirt, become a better Google searcher, crack an egg with one hand, whistle with your fingers, learn to speed read (the most popular answer), use the peg system to remember things, and learn to change a tire.
posted to MetaFilter by blahblahblah at 8:04 PM on September 3, 2013 (48 comments)

I grew up in Honolulu/Hawaii, so know where to shop, eat, and head out to find more secluded beaches, but am totally clueless on where to STAY while visiting! I've been going back to visit family each year for at least ten years now, and have progressively gone from sticking it out in my childhood bedroom at parent's house, to hippie hostels, mega multi-generation family resorts, and am now at a point in my life where I just want to visit "home" and relax, without feeling like a tourist shoved in an elevator with 40 other people on the way to breakfast every morning. Price is no object, $500-$1000/night is game. Any recommendations for smaller, intimate "boutique" hotels or villas in Hawaii?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by peachtree at 9:17 AM on September 2, 2013 (8 comments)

My wife and make a lot of stuff at home--from home made pasta, to scented fuel for an alcohol lamp, to guitar pedals--and we generally find that making at home is better and more fun than buying at the store. Can you recommend any other worthwhile home projects? I'm looking for enjoyable projects that are better than store bought--not necessarily for cost-saving.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Admiral Haddock at 10:44 AM on August 19, 2013 (39 comments)

My husband and I want to carefully plan a series of American History field trips for our family, to take place over the next 3-6 years. We live in Northern New England and are, ourselves, pretty conversant in US History. Can you help us plan what we should see and -- most importantly -- what order we should see it in?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by anastasiav at 8:02 AM on August 16, 2013 (36 comments)

"It's like a hillbilly, really. You listen to the wrong kind of music, you dress in the wrong kind of way, you have the wrong kind of hair." Mun2tv does a ten minute video on the evolving social implications of the terms 'naco' and 'pocho' within the community of Mexicans and Mexican-Americans. Featuring Edward James Olmos! It may not be safe for work if you have coworkers who understand Spanish, but it is subtitled in English.
posted to MetaFilter by winna at 8:20 PM on October 4, 2012 (25 comments)

I'm cat-sitting for a few weeks in a small village 20 minutes south of Aix-en-Provence. Because of the cats, I am limited to daytrips, but I do have use of a car. I'm looking for interesting or quirky places to visit. These could be in a city, town or the countryside.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rumple at 11:44 AM on August 9, 2013 (5 comments)

The lives and lies of wizards. Single-serving Harry Potter picture-and-ficlet tumblr.
posted to MetaFilter by immlass at 7:02 AM on August 6, 2013 (8 comments)

I'm calling you all out, all of you.
posted to MetaTalk by Blasdelb at 7:18 PM on July 31, 2013 (763 comments)

A 21 year old man was arrested for tweeting rape threats. The target of the tweets, Caroline Criado-Perez, had successfully campaigned to have a woman (Jane Austen) shown on the UK's new 10 pound note, and has been subsequently receiving incessant rape and death threats via twitter, a violation of UK law. Twitter's Terms of Service are being repeatedly and flagrantly violated in this episode, and the company appears to be having issues responding to a backlog of reports; it responded to Criado-Perez only that she take the matter to the police. This resulted in shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper asking Twitter to review its policies for handling abuse complaints.
posted to MetaFilter by vira at 10:24 PM on July 28, 2013 (128 comments)

Xiaoou is a Norwegian artist who raps in Mandarin Chinese about income inequality in China, his love for Beijing, and going through a breakup.
posted to MetaFilter by klue at 1:14 PM on July 26, 2013 (8 comments)

Non-Americans! I'm beefing up my to-read pile (especially on my kindle), and I would like suggests of Great Classics of Your National Literature that would typically be assigned in secondary school.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Eyebrows McGee at 10:36 PM on July 21, 2013 (31 comments)

"During his days as Harvard’s influential president, Dr. Charles W. Eliot made a frequent assertion: If you were to spend just 15 minutes a day reading the right books, a quantity that could fit on a five-foot shelf, you could give yourself a proper liberal education. Publisher P. F. Collier and Son loved the idea and asked Eliot to compile and edit the right collection of works. The result: a 51-volume series of classic works from world literature published in 1909 called Dr. Eliot’s Five Foot Shelf, which would later be called The Harvard Classics." (Via)
posted to MetaFilter by zarq at 2:07 PM on July 11, 2013 (88 comments)

"In the interests of art, they seek to substitute the luxury of taste for the luxury of costliness; to teach that beauty does not imply elaboration or ornament; to employ only those forms and materials which make for simplicity, individuality and dignity of effect." Every issue of Gustav Stickley's influential journal of the American Craftsman movement,The Craftsman.
posted to MetaFilter by Think_Long at 7:48 AM on July 6, 2013 (10 comments)

Many folks who play Powerball in the U.S. dream of private jets. But that's so passé. All the coolest, richest kids are buying, rebuilding and riding "private varnish" (29 page .pdf file) and those that don't have the scratch for that, charter.
posted to MetaFilter by paulsc at 4:20 PM on July 2, 2013 (55 comments)

An old Stanford study famously found that preschoolers who could leave a marshmallow alone for 15 minutes in order to gain a second one would go on to do better at life. A new study suggests that the important factor here may not be the self control of the child, but the child's level of trust that the second marshmallow would ever appear.
posted to MetaFilter by jacalata at 6:53 PM on July 2, 2013 (53 comments)

What's the most intellectual joke you know? is Slate's summary of this Reddit thread (for once, the comments are worth it!), with more good comments in this Marginal Revolution discussion. Of course, we can do better...
posted to MetaFilter by blahblahblah at 10:55 AM on June 28, 2013 (177 comments)

My city banned the construction of high-rise buildings in the eighties. Political winds have shifted (along with economic growth) and now city hall is set to make some permissible again in a new specific plan for the downtown. My layman's intuition combined with some background reading tells me there is a big difference between a well-designed high-rise and one that's poorly designed. I want to be more conversant with the design issues involved so I can contribute intelligently to the civic discussion. What key articles, reports, manifestos or monographs should I read?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by bertran at 4:29 AM on June 23, 2013 (11 comments)

What, when you see it, instantly makes you smile?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Leenie at 4:30 PM on June 20, 2013 (94 comments)

'Loss is difficult at any time of life. It can be particularly difficult for teenagers, who are still navigating their way, sometimes clumsily, toward adulthood. They know they need help, but are sometimes reluctant to ask for it. And often, because of their youth, their loss may be the first death they have ever known.' For a year, a reporter from the Cincinnati Enquirer sat in on meetings of a grief group at Archbishop Moeller high school, for boys who had lost a parent... and learned The Rules of Grieving.
posted to MetaFilter by zarq at 8:52 PM on June 15, 2013 (27 comments)

Brutal police crackdown on protesters against a bus fare rise in São Paulo and Rio, as well as other cities.
posted to MetaFilter by Tom-B at 7:30 PM on June 14, 2013 (72 comments)

A Closed Letter To Myself About Thievery, Heckling and Rape Jokes - Patton Oswalt
posted to MetaFilter by nadawi at 1:01 PM on June 14, 2013 (100 comments)

I don't know y'all's addresses so I'm sending my thank-you note c/o MetaTalk.
posted to MetaTalk by headnsouth at 8:15 PM on June 11, 2013 (40 comments)

Craig Ferguson seems to have a special liking for conversation with Stephen Fry. Previously. On Wednesday night, Stephen was back on the Late Late Show as the only guest. The naturally wide-ranging discussion includes Arthur Conan Doyle, America, mortality, religion, philosophy, science, homosexuality, Wagner, and more. Enjoy.
posted to MetaFilter by lazaruslong at 8:05 AM on May 25, 2013 (93 comments)

While settling a disagreement over whether Total Eclipse of the Heart was a duet, I just saw the music video and it blew my mind. I grew up without cable, and am pretty much ignorant of everything but the "classic" music videos from the 80's; please let me know what I'm missing.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by a box and a stick and a string and a bear at 8:34 AM on May 23, 2013 (258 comments)

Clipping Magic is a single-service website which allows you remove the background from images algorithmically. For example: a dog in a tub can become a dog on a white background with a few simple marks to identify what in the image is foreground, and what is background.
posted to MetaFilter by ocherdraco at 5:39 PM on May 12, 2013 (18 comments)

Now married and father to two, Kevin Berthia's life has changed dramatically in the 8 years since he climbed over the railing of the Golden Gate Bridge to take his own life. He probably would not have had that opportunity had it not been for the dedication of California Highway Patrolman Kevin Briggs, "The Guardian of the Golden Gate Bridge". Following the overwhelming response to the short documentary on Briggs' efforts to reach out--sometimes literally--to would-be jumpers, he got the opportunity to meet the young man whose life he saved in 2005.
posted to MetaFilter by drlith at 10:14 AM on May 11, 2013 (19 comments)

I've been recovering from a brain injury and find reading very hard, so I've really enjoyed listening to audiobooks. But not books just read out loud: dramatized adaptations of them, with a varied voice cast, background music and sound effects -- the lot. I've listened to the BBC dramatization of the Hitchhiker's Guide and a wonderful version of the Foundation Trilogy. What other fantastic dramatized audiobooks can I feed my temporarily defective brain with? Happy to consider both free and paid suggestions. Thanks in advance!
posted to Ask MetaFilter by idlethink at 1:17 PM on February 24, 2013 (18 comments)

Yes, another "Help me find this thing to buy." I need sunscreen. I recently found another ask (linked below the fold) but the results are exactly what I DON'T like. More details inside.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Crystalinne at 4:04 PM on May 2, 2013 (24 comments)

Bill Nye, the-Sci-ence Guy
Biill Nyye, the Science Guuy
Bill! Bill! Bill! Bill! Bill! Bill!
Bill Nye, the-Sci-ence Guy
(Science rules)
Bill Nye, the-Sci-ence Guy
(Inertia is a property of matter)
Bill, Bill, Bill, Bill-Bill-Bill-
Biill Nyye, the Science Guuy
Bill! Bill! Bill! Bill! Bill! Bill! Bill! Bill! Bill! Bill!
(T-minus seven seconds)
Bill Nye, the-Sci-ence Guy

posted to MetaFilter by troll at 10:24 AM on August 4, 2011 (99 comments)

Very obscure and super rare selection of cumbias, gaitas, mapalé, charanguara, musarana, charanga and guarachas for your ultimate enjoyment!
posted to MetaFilter by Tom-B at 2:20 PM on April 28, 2013 (11 comments)

Caspar Babypants is Chris Ballew. Described by Weird Al Yankovic as "one of the few children's recording artists I can listen to without wanting to stab myself in the eyes," you don't have to have kids to appreciate the silly subject matter and exquisitely crafted pop sensibility, but it probably helps. It should come as no surprise that, as front man for The Presidents of the United States, the man who wrote songs like Kitty, Boll Weevil, and Dune Buggy grew up to write offbeat children's music. I would especially like to call your attention to these wonderful and clever low tech videos, including several worthy fan videos.
posted to MetaFilter by Slarty Bartfast at 7:46 PM on February 16, 2011 (87 comments)

QWOP is difficult. How far can you run?
posted to MetaFilter by boo_radley at 5:19 PM on November 10, 2008 (56 comments)

In April of 2007, College Humor conducted an informal poll of their readership's (ahem) wiping habits. This month, Drew Magary re-examines the results of that "study" for Deadspin, and comes to the same shocking conclusions. (Note: These links contain bathroom-related discussions that those with more delicate sensibilities probably won't enjoy.)
posted to MetaFilter by juliplease at 10:23 AM on December 16, 2009 (314 comments)

Check out this inventive remix of live music (looped) over the Apple default "marimba" alarm sound
posted to MetaFilter by mathowie at 7:47 PM on April 11, 2013 (43 comments)

Which of these two cities is bigger? The Census bureau has a quiz to see how well you know the relative sizes of the 64 largest metropolitan areas in the US, March Madness style.
posted to MetaFilter by schmod at 9:09 AM on April 3, 2013 (74 comments)

Do you secretly suspect that your vagina is above average? It may be, but how would you know?
posted to MetaFilter by latkes at 5:21 PM on April 1, 2013 (65 comments)

The New York Times has faced criticism after an obituary of Yvonne Brill, rocket scientist, opened with "She made a mean beef stroganoff, followed her husband from job to job and took eight years off from work to raise three children. “The world’s best mom,” her son Matthew said."
posted to MetaFilter by ChuraChura at 10:33 AM on March 31, 2013 (89 comments)

Has someone important to you passed away? What was the most comforting/most respectful thing anyone said to you when that happened? I work with the elderly, who die at an accelerated rate. 98% of the time, I genuinely care about the deceased and would like to give comfort to the surviving family. Since this comes up a lot, I feel as if I'm repeating the same phrases over and over. I need more options. I'm specifically asking for things people said to you that were kind.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Lately Gone at 5:11 PM on March 21, 2013 (77 comments)

The beautiful and amazing caped crusader, Tremoctopus. Amazing Cephalopods, that can moonwalk, run, cleverly open a variety of jars and shapeshift. Masters of illusion. Giant octopus encounter. Shark vs. Octopus.
posted to MetaFilter by nickyskye at 3:06 AM on November 9, 2008 (60 comments)

My father passed away this morning. I'm going through his file, and I came across JOKES.TXT ... which contains only the punchlines. Can the Mind please tell me the jokes?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by dmd at 4:49 PM on March 22, 2013 (74 comments)

A well-executed and terrifying visual representation of exactly how stratified wealth is in America. It's far worse than you could have imagined. [SLYT]
posted to MetaFilter by erstwhile ungulate at 6:35 PM on March 3, 2013 (147 comments)

Salt n' Pepa's Push It always does it for me, but it's getting old. What song gets your blood pumping every time?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by cherrybounce at 3:10 PM on March 16, 2013 (59 comments)

Please to give me your best dog jokes. Thanks!
posted to Ask MetaFilter by HotToddy at 7:06 PM on January 13, 2013 (46 comments)

Looking for reflective "things" for my bike.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by DisreputableDog at 4:53 AM on March 8, 2013 (16 comments)

Have you had experience with resomation, aka bio-cremation? The mortuary taking care of my pet's body offered me the choice of cremation methods, with a gentle push towards resomation (a chemical bath that dissolves the remains), and ... while I don't want to overthink this, I just want to know if the end results are basically the same, and if there's anything else I should consider.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by roger ackroyd at 2:35 PM on February 20, 2013 (5 comments)

What's That? Sadly, the education of the youth of amerika is declining in more than one way. The other day I was at the grocery store and the checker was unable to identify a portabello mushroom. And no, she wasn't new...and to make matters worse the checker next to her didn't know either. (more inside)
posted to MetaFilter by MiHail at 9:25 AM on November 12, 2005 (1011 comments)

Just finished watching the Alien series (again). I've always been curious, what did they live on for sustenance? Their awesome power and quickness suggests a significant need of caloric intake, but how this was handled was never clear.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by psmealey at 1:14 AM on February 12, 2013 (15 comments)

I've noticed that a few professions seem to have a semi-common veiled insult specific to their field. These tend to be used in the same way that many southerners say "bless your heart" in lieu of calling someone stupid. For example, certain academics will say that a colleague is a gadfly (like Socrates...in an annoying way), and I've known nurses to say that another nurse "really should have been a doctor" when they think that colleague is full of it. What are some others?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by lemonadeheretic at 1:38 PM on February 4, 2013 (201 comments)